Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal June 7, 2018 Volume 156, Number 7 - $1.00
Sports Highlights
LR Parade
German Valley Days
Andy Colbert highlights memorable 2017-2018 Forreston sports moments. B2
The Leaf River Daze Parade marches though another successful year. B1
The 45th annual German Valley Days celebration runs this weekend. A3
Village discusses upgrades for Warnken Park By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com
Above: The Phantom Regiment was a popular entry in the 2018 Leaf River Summer Daze parade on Sunday. Middle: Tobias Whetsel holds Raelynn, age 11 months, on his lap as they watch the parade as it passes in front of their home in downtown Leaf River on Sunday. Bottom: A Forreston cheerleader tosses candy to an onlooker as she rides on a Forreston fire truck. Photos by Earleen Hinton
Weather was pitcher perfect Picture-perfect weather prevailed throughout the three days of Leaf River Summer Daze June 1-3. A cool front blew in Friday evening just in time for the fireworks show, bringing clear skies and mild temperatures all the way to the end of Grand Parade on Sunday afternoon. The FFA Alumni Truck and Tractor Pull on Saturday drew the largest crowd of the weekend. People packed the bleachers on the field behind the River Valley Complex to watch local pullers in the afternoon, capped off by the Badger State Pullers show in the evening. Fire Chief Steve Shelton was named Citizen of the Year by the Leaf River Grange on Friday night. Sunday’s hour-long parade included floats, firetrucks, political candidates, and horses, all topped off by the marching precision and musical talent of Rockford’s Phantom Regiment. The parade was sponsored by LR Communications and Exelon Nuclear.
A Forreston Park is on course to receive a few upgrades in the coming months after some donations and action between the Lion’s Club and village board. During Monday evening’s Forreston Village Board meeting, Ken Toms, Chairman of Buildings, Grounds, Parks, Zoning and Planning Committee, delivered some news to the board regarding Warnken Park, 604 E Avon St., receiving a new bench, as well as presenting action on purchasing new basketball hoops and possibly replacing one of the swings. The full-metal bench is being donated by Damaris Swalve, in honor of her late husband, Virgil, who died last year. “Virgil was very influential in getting Warnken Park set up, and did a lot of work down
there,” said Toms. A four feet by eight feet concrete slab will need to be put in for the bench. Swalve is paying for both the bench and concrete, and the village will get the work done. Toms said he does not yet know when work will begin on that, but the board agreed it needs to be done by the Fourth of July. The board also voted unanimously to proceed with shopping for two sets of gooseneck basketball systems with chain nets, for putting in a 45 feet by 40 feet, six inch deep basketball court at Warnken Park, approximating a cost of around $2,000. “We discussed with the Lion’s Club putting in a basketball court inside [Warnken Park], it’d be exactly the same size as the one at Memorial Park,” said Toms. The Forreston Lion’s Club approached village president Turn to A2
Statue is in worse shape than before By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The unwrapping of the Black Hawk statue Friday morning revealed that the beloved landmark has deteriorated in the last 18 months. “Under the left elbow it’s worse. And the front where the leg is — that’s in dire condition,” said Karly Spell, a member of the Oregon Together Black Hawk Restoration Team. She also pointed out cracks near the head of the statue and on the left shoulder that weren’t apparent before. Oregon Mayor Ken Williams agreed. “The right shoulder looks worse, too,” he said. Keith Niles, the supervisor of the crew from Quality Restorations Inc., of Wood Dale, said the tarps and the padding underneath did their
job by keeping moisture away from the statue. “It’s nice and dry under there,” he said, shortly after the wraps came off. Sculptor Lorado Taft created the 48-foot concrete statue as a tribute to Native Americans in 1910. It was unveiled and dedicated in 1911. Taft called his statue the Eternal Indian, but it has been known as Black Hawk from the start, for the Sauk and Fox medicine man whose people frequented the area. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2009, the concrete statue needs repairs due to the ravages of weather and time. Over the years, despite numerous repair efforts, parts of the statue have crumbled and fallen off. Winter weather has been especially devastating. Turn to A3
Publication date is changing to Friday Due to a change in printing schedules, the Oregon Republican Reporter, Mt. Morris Times, Tri-County Press, and Forreston Journal will now publish on Fridays rather than Thursdays, effective with the June 15 editions. Papers will be distributed to each town’s respective post office on Thursday morning. Newsstand copies will be
In This Week’s Edition...
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B5 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4
Sheriff’s Arrests, B5 Social News, A4 Sports, B2 State’s Attorney, B6
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
distributed on Thursday to retail outlets and news boxes. “Content and our commitment to the communities we serve will not change,” said Sauk Valley Media General Manager Jennifer Heintzelman. Ogle County Newspapers is a division of Sauk Valley Newspapers, Sterling, and Shaw Media.
Deaths, B6 Jerry Reinders Gerald L. Zellers